Islanders blow lead again, but beat Caps in OT

Published 1:30 pm, Tuesday, December 30, 2014

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Johnny Boychuk's power-play goal 2:53 into in overtime lifted the Islanders over the Washington Capitals 4-3 after New York blew another three-goal lead on Monday night.

For the second straight game, and fourth in recent weeks, the Islanders led a three-goal lead get away. New York lost at Buffalo 4-3 on Saturday.

This time, the Capitals stormed back in the third period on goals by Eric Fehr, Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin. Braden Holtby stopped 35 shots.

But Evgeny Kuznetsov was given a double high-sticking penalty with 1:04 left in regulation, and Boychuk took advantage.

Boychuk's third goal gave the Islanders (24-11-1) their 14th home win, topping their total from last season. New York, 14-4 at home, snapped a two-game losing streak.

Anders Lee, Lubomir Visnovsky and Calvin de Haan also scored for the Islanders. Jaroslav Halak made 23 saves in his return from injury.

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The Islanders have won 11 of their last 13 home games.

The Capitals (18-11-7) lost for the second time in three games leading into the outdoor Winter Classic against Chicago on Thursday.

Lee opened the scoring at 8:15 of the first with his eighth of the season. Visnovsky's power-play goal at 10:06 of the second made it 2-0.

The Islanders made it a three-goal edge on de Haan's first goal of the season -- a short-handed tally -- at 1:41 of the third.

Halak improved to 19-6 in his return from a two-game absence caused by a lower-body injury. New York lost both games he missed.

The Capitals got going 4:40 into the third on Fehr's goal. Backstrom made it a one-goal game at 6:29 with his 12th of the season on a set up by Ovechkin, who tied it with his team-leading 17th at 17:19.

The Islanders, who are heading out on a seven-game road trip, improved to 7-2-6 in their last 15 games against Washington.

They are 16-2-1 in games decided by one goal and 19-4-1 when they net at least three.

The Capitals went 8-2-3 in December, with Holtby starting each game.

Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik had to be helped from the ice with 7:20 left in the third period after he appeared to injure his right knee in a collision with Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck.

Devils 3, Penguins 1

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- Travis Zajac had a goal and an assist, and Cory Schneider made 26 saves as the struggling New Jersey Devils beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 on Monday night.

Jaromir Jagr and Adam Henrique also scored for the Devils, who won for only the second time in 10 games (2-5-3).

It was also New Jersey's first win in two games since general manager Lou Lamoriello fired coach Pete DeBoer on Friday and joined new coaches Scott Stevens and Adam Oates behind the bench as part of a three-man committee.

Sidney Crosby scored for the Penguins, who have lost four straight. Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves.

The Devils slowed the tempo at the start to a pace they could handle.

It all changed on Crosby's dazzling goal.

Swinging around defenseman Andy Greene, Crosby whipped a backhander under the crossbar to make it 1-0 at 14:37 of the first period. It was just the second goal in 13 games for the star center.

That ignited the Penguins, who started pouring on the shots. Schneider made a pad stop on Chris Kunitz before denying Derrick Pouliot's drive from the right wing following a setup pass from Evgeni Malkin.

The Penguins outshot the Devils 9-7 in the first.

Momentum swung New Jersey's way in the second when the Devils took a 2-1 lead on goals by Zajac and Jagr.

Zajac pulled New Jersey even with a power-play goal at 5:33, swiping home the rebound of Marek Zidlicky's point shot.

It was Zajac's first goal since Nov. 22. He was scoreless in eight games since and missed eight more because of a groin pull and a case of the mumps.

Schneider kept it 1-1 late in the period with a point-blank stop on Kunitz's power-play shot.

Jagr gave the Devils the lead shortly after the penalty expired, snapping in a shot from the right circle with 1:20 remaining.

Henrique put the Devils up 3-1 at 5:32 of the third, jamming the puck in with Zajac getting an assist.

Fleury stopped Jagr's breakaway bid several minutes later.

U.S. cruises at World Juniors

MONTREAL (AP) -- Thatcher Demko made 17 saves and Sonny Milano scored late in the second period, leading the United States to a 3-0 victory Monday in the World Junior Championship.

Dylan Larkin and John Hayden also scored as the United States remained unbeaten in Group A heading into its game Wednesday against rival Canada. Canada played Finland later Monday.

Slovakia's Denis Godla made 42 saves.

At Toronto in Group B play, Sweden beat Russia 3-2 and David Pastrnak scored 1:10 into overtime to lift the Czech Republic to a 4-3 win over Denmark.

With 2:18 left in the second period, Milano made a burst down the left side and lifted a shot from a difficult angle past Godla on the short side for the 18-year-old's second goal of the tournament.

"We had a lot of shots but nothing was really going in for the first two periods," said Milano, the No. 16 overall pick in the 2014 NHL deaft of the Columbus Blue Jackets. "It was good that we just kept going and a couple went in."

Larkin, who stayed close to home to play for Michigan and was a first-round pick this year by Detroit, scored 2:38 into the third. Larkin got an assist on Milano's goal.

"There was some frustration with some guys, but we're pretty persistent and we kept shooting," Larkin said.

Demko is from San Diego, California, and plays for Boston College. He faced his toughest shots late in the first period and early in the second.